a. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to devices related to devices for the removal and grading of snow, gravel and the like. In particular, the invention relates to devices intended to be removably attached to light utility vehicles, including pickups, suburbans, tahoes, and the like for removal and grading of snow and gravel.
b. Description of the Prior Art
Devices for grading and removing snow are well known. There are two basic types of snowplow devices:
1. Devices intended to be mounted on the front of a vehicle, such as U.S. Pat. No. Re. 35,700 to Watson, et al., for a Removable Snowplow Assembly With Pivotable Lift Stand; and PA1 2. Devices intended to be mounted on the rear of a vehicle such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,007 to Biance, for a Trailer-Type Snowplow.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both types of devices. For example, the devices mounted on the front of a vehicle tend to decrease the chances of the vehicle becoming stuck in the snow or gravel. That is because the snow or gravel is moved before the wheels contact the surface. That is, the wheels are rolling on ground that has already been plowed. Further, the front-mounted devices allow a driver of the vehicle to more easily keep an eye on the plowing operation. In addition, the front-mounted devices allow a user to more easily stack or pile-up the material being moved.
Nevertheless, despite their advantages, there are also disadvantages to the front-mounted types of devices. For example, most vehicles do not have attached thereto the necessary hardware for mounting a front-mounted snowplow.
Therefore, there are also a plurality of designs for rear-mounted snowplows. U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,007 to Biance, discloses such a trailer-type snowplow. Biance utilizes a "receiver hitch"--receiver hitch type mounting device. That is, the snowplow mechanism has a male portion adapted to be removably be received within a female portion of a bracket mounted to the vehicle. A pin passes through the male portion of the bracket and the female portion of the snowplow fixing them in relation to one another. The snowplow can easily be removed from t he vehicle by removing the bland sliding the male portion of the snowplow out of the female portion of the bracket. The advantages of the Biance device is that a user can easily remove the snowplow from the vehicle without unsightly and space consuming hardware being left thereon. Prior are devices required a user to leave a mounting bracket permanently attached to the vehicle. This mounting bracket typically detached to the bumper and other points on the vehicle, taking up space and detracting from the appearance of the vehicle.
Another type of rear-mounted snowplow apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,355 to Daniels. Daniels device is a three-point mounted snowplow. That is, there is an attachment at a center of a rear bumper and on either end of a rear bumper of a vehicle. Daniels discloses a box-type blade device. It has a means for raising and lowering the blade (as did Biance). The device disclosed by Daniels is extremely heavy and relatively expensive to manufacture. The angle of the blade with respect to the rear bumper of the vehicle is fixed in the Daniels device. That is, there is no way to angle the blade so as to move it to one side of the vehicle or another.
Given the currently available and known devices, there is a need for a plow device which is extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture. There is also a need for a device which can be attached to existing trailer hitches on vehicles. Specifically, there is a need for a snowplow which attaches to standard trailer-towing balls on the bumpers of many vehicles.